Trial for polygamist postponed a month

Mohave Daily News/July 26, 2007
By Jim Seckler

Kingman -- The trial for the last of eight polygamists who belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Colorado City was postponed again Thursday until September.

Rodney Holm, 40, a former Colorado City police officer, is charged with three counts of sexual conduct with a minor. Superior Court Judge Steven Conn postponed his trial until Sept. 5.

Holm's codefendant, Dale Evans Barlow, 49, pleaded no contest in April to conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. A charge of one count of sexual conduct with a minor was dismissed.

After numerous delays, Barlow will be sentenced Aug. 17. Per the plea agreement, Conn will sentence Barlow to supervised probation for up to three years and a possible sentence of up to one year in county jail. The judge must also decide if Barlow must register as a sex offender.

The sect's leader, Warren Steed Jeffs, 52, is currently in custody in St. George, Utah, facing rape charges. He is also charged in Mohave County with three counts of sexual conduct with a minor in a 2005 case.

He also faces new charges of two counts of incest and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor in one case and two counts of incest and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor in another case. Jeffs faces up to three years and nine months in prison if tried and convicted for the incest charge.